The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has rejected the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) updated timetable for the 2027 general election.
The ADC, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, yesterday, said the table contains booby traps that could aid President Bola Tinubu’s alleged plot to be returned unopposed for a second term in 2027.
The opposition party noted that the requirement for political parties to submit a comprehensive digital membership register by April 2, 2026 ahead of nomination of candidates, scheduled to last from April 23 to May 30, “creates a near impossible hurdle that could exclude other parties from fielding candidates.”
The ADC said: “What has been presented as a routine administrative schedule of the upcoming general elections, is in fact, a political instrument carefully structured to narrow democratic space and strengthen the hand of the incumbent administration ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“According to the timetable, party primaries are to be conducted between 23 April and 30 May 2026, just 55 to 92 days from today. However; what is more significant is that pursuant to Section 77(4) of the Electoral Act 2026, political parties are required to submit their digital membership registers to INEC not later than 2 April 2026.
“That is only 34 days away. Section 77(7) further provides that any party that fails to submit its membership register within the stipulated time ‘shall not be eligible to field a candidate for that election.’ These are not house-keeping rules. They are deliberately constructed barriers to exclude opposition from partaking in the coming election. “It is significant to note also that Section 77(2) of the Electoral Act 2026 prescribes that the digital register of members must contain their name, sex, date of birth, address, state, local government, ward, polling unit, National Identification Number (NIN), and photograph in both hard and soft copies, while Section 77(6) prohibits the use of any pre-existing register other than the one that contains the specific information above.
“According to this law, failure to meet these requirements would result in disqualification. What makes this requirement of digital membership particularly insidious is that the ruling party had commenced the process of this registration since February 2025, long before it became a requirement of the law. This is not a product of foresight, but insider knowledge.
Credit: The Sun